Walter Berry (basketball)

Walter Berry
Personal information
Born	May 14, 1964 (age 60); New York City, New York, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school	Benjamin Franklin; (New York City, New York)
College	San Jacinto (1983–1984); St. John's (1984–1986);
NBA draft	1986: 1st round, 14th overall pick
	Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career	1986–2002
Position	Power forward
Number	21, 6, 15, 14, 12, 9, 8
Career history
1986	Portland Trail Blazers
1986–1988	San Antonio Spurs
1988–1989	New Jersey Nets
1989	Houston Rockets
1989–1990	Basket Napoli
1990–1991	Atlético Madrid Villalba
1991	Aris
1992	Basket Napoli
1992–1993	Olympiacos
1993–1994	PAOK
1994–1995	Iraklis
1995–1996	Olympiacos
1997	Aris
1997–1998	Polti Cantù
1998–1999	PAOK
1999–2000	Union Olimpija
2000	Makedonikos
2000–2001	Aurora Basket Jesi
2001–2002	Panteras de Miranda
Career highlights and awards
	FIBA Saporta Cup Top Scorer (1995); FIBA Korać Cup champion (1994); Liga ACB Top Scorer (1991); 2× Greek League champion (1993, 1996); Greek Cup winner (1999); Greek League Top Scorer (1995); Greek Cup Finals MVP (1999); Greek League Hall of Fame (2022); John R. Wooden Award (1986); Oscar Robertson Trophy (1986); NABC Player of the Year (1986); AP Player of the Year (1986); UPI Player of the Year (1986); Adolph Rupp Trophy (1986); Sporting News Player of the Year (1986); Consensus first-team All-American (1986); Big East Player of the Year (1986); First-team All-Big East (1986); Second-team All-Big East (1985);
Career NBA statistics
Points	2,882
Rebounds	971
Assists	292
	Stats at NBA.com
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Men's basketball
Representing United States
FIBA U19 World Cup

Walter Berry (born May 14, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. After spending three seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he had a very successful career in various leagues around Europe and the EuroLeague. Berry played the power forward position. Berry, who originated from New York City, New York, was nicknamed "The Truth", early in his playing career. He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.^[1]

College career

Berry's retired St. John's # 21 jersey.

Berry played college basketball for his hometown college, St. John's University, with the then called St. John's Redmen. At St. John's he won the John Wooden Award, the Big East Men's Basketball Player of the Year award, plus the USBWA College Player of the Year award in 1986, after averaging 23 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. Berry, nicknamed, "The Truth", was also the second leading scorer on St. John's 1985 Final Four team.

Professional career

NBA

Berry was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 14th overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft. He only played 7 games for the Blazers before he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kevin Duckworth. He spent three seasons in the NBA, from 1986 to 1989, with the Trail Blazers, Spurs, New Jersey Nets, and Houston Rockets. However, he did not get along with some of his coaches, including Mike Schuler while with the Portland Trail Blazers, Larry Brown (San Antonio Spurs) and Willis Reed (Nets).^[2] He was released by the New Jersey Nets, after failure to conform to team policy.^[3] He holds NBA career averages of 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Europe

In 1989, Berry went to Italy, where he played for Italian LBA League club Paini Napoli. After that, he spent much of his career playing in Greece, in the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague, where he forged a reputation as one of the most savvy scorers, with a wide variety of shots and ways of scoring.

Later career

Berry would continue to play basketball for Jayson Williams' NBA Charity Team. He joined Jayson Williams at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where Williams' NBA charity team played exhibition games.^{[citation needed]}

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1986–87	Portland	7	0	2.7	.750	–	1.000	1.0	0.1	0.3	0.0	1.9
1986–87	San Antonio	56	45	28.0	.529	.000	.648	5.4	1.9	0.6	0.7	17.6
1987–88	San Antonio	73	56	26.3	.563	–	.600	5.4	1.5	0.8	0.9	17.4
1988–89	New Jersey	29	17	19.2	.468	–	.683	4.0	0.7	0.3	0.4	8.9
1988–89	Houston	40	14	20.0	.541	.500	.713	3.8	1.4	0.5	0.9	8.8
Career		205	132	23.7	.539	.200	.638	4.7	1.4	0.6	0.7	14.1

Playoffs


Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1988	San Antonio	3	31.3	.540	.000	.800	7.0	2.0	1.7	0.7	22.0
1989	Houston	4	14.3	.500	–	.875	2.3	1.3	0.5	0.3	8.3
Career		7	21.6	.526	.000	.826	4.3	1.6	1.0	0.4	14.1

References

External links

FIBA EuroLeague Profile
Berry's NBA stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Italian League Profile (in Italian)
Spanish League Profile (in Spanish)
Greek League Profile (in Greek)
1986 Oscar Robertson Trophy

[1] Greek League Hall of Fame welcomes Ford, Bodiroga, Radja, Wilkins, Tarpley.

[2] Unhappy Berry Is Waived By Nets..

[3] Unhappy Berry Is Waived By nets.

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